DAILY BEAST
A Georgia judge ruled Friday that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis should not be disqualified from the Trump election interference case—if the special prosecutor she had an affair with steps aside.
Judge Scott McAfee ruled that Willis’ romantic relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade brought an “appearance of impropriety,” which means one of them has to leave the ongoing case. The decision comes after a defense motion to disqualify Willis and dismiss the racketeering indictment for former President Donald Trump and several of his co-defendants. In the motion, former Trump aide Mike Roman’s defense attorney argued that Willis financially benefited from hiring Nathan Wade as special prosecutor because the pair went on luxurious trips paid for by his taxpayer-funded salary.
The romantic entanglement, which defense attorneys argued began before Willis hired Wade in November 2021, allegedly resulted in misconduct, hindered a fair trial in the Georgia state election interference case, and made the DA’s office a “global laughing stock,” according to the defense team.
“Prosecutors don’t act like this. Lawyers don’t act like this,” Craig Gillen, the defense attorney for former Georgia GOP chair David Shafer, argued on March 1. “These people, Your Honor, [engaged in] systematic misconduct. And they need to go.”
Wade and Willis confirmed on the stand that they had a romantic relationship but said it began in early 2022 and lasted until last summer. The two denied any wrongdoing and pushed back on claims that their affair was funded solely by Wade. Senior Assistant District Attorney Adam Abbate argued that despite “misleading” evidence, the defense team failed to prove that the “irrelevant” relationship between Wade and Willis impeded the case or cited relevant case law.
